The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Tonight, Evelyn Hardcastle will be killed ... Again

It is meant to be a celebration but it ends in tragedy. As fireworks explode overhead, Evelyn Hardcastle, the young and beautiful daughter of the house, is killed.

But Evelyn will not die just once. Until Aiden - one of the guests summoned to Blackheath for the party - can solve her murder, the day will repeat itself, over and over again. Every time ending with the fateful pistol shot.

The only way to break this cycle is to identify the killer. But each time the day begins again, Aiden wakes in the body of a different guest. And someone is determined to prevent him ever escaping Blackheath..


This was nothing like anything I have read before; a complete mind scrambler that was so clever, so ingenious that I can't contemplate what kind of mind created it. Was Stuart on some wacky baccy or mind trip? If he was I'm so glad he was able to write it all down for us to enjoy. My word, what a ride and a work out for the brain. I couldn't fathom who had 'done it' and I was so carried along in the excellent writing and craftsmanship of the book that I only cared about the journey to the finale. Completely original and a joy to read.

This is like a gothic horror, murder Agatha Christie type thriller with so many twists and turns it leaves you reeling. It is a weighty book and I didn't think it was my kind of genre but that was a great mistake. Set in the 1920s the whole thing takes place in Blackheath a large sprawling country mansion remotely tucked away from the nearest town. The novel opens up with the narrator running through a forest, he has no idea where he is or if he is being pursued, he is dressed in someone else's' clothes and he soon realises he appears to be in someone else's body.

We find out fairly soon that the narrator is called Aiden Bishop and he appears to start each new day in someone else's body but reliving the same day (a bit like Ground Hog day). Through a masked figure he is told that a murder will be committed and he has eight chances to solve it and eight hosts he must inhabit to find the clues to set him free. If he does not find the answer by the eight day then his memory is wiped and he will have to start all over again. We also learn that there are two other members of the party who are also trying to solve the mystery and they also inhabit hosts. Aiden does not know the identity of the other members. To cap it all he and the other members are also being pursued by a knife wielding maniac footman who is out to kill them before they succeed.

The chapters are short and quick paced dealing with a host at a time in most cases and as Aiden inhabits the bodies of his hosts he is also further hampered by their physical abilities and their characterisation which all sets to complicate matters further. It is such a clever ingenious story and it has to be read to appreciate the great artistry in the writers ability to connect with the reader and the characters to bring this story to a conclusion. Almost every page there is a twist or misleading information, I found myself almost screaming with frustration when Aiden was not agile enough when he was in one hosts' body to be able to conduct some of the tasks himself. It's beautifully written, full of tension and each of the hosts have a motive for murder making every sentence he writes of significance to the story. It is a book of many facets, its a crime thriller, a psychological thriller, a murder mystery, even a little magical and mysterious with a good dose of dark humour to help it along; a book that could appeal to many genres of readers.

And what a finale! So unexpected and clever disclosing that Blackheath is not what it appears to be, another mask that has been taken off right at the end. I loved it and I find it hard to say that about a lot of novels but this one is in a class of it's own. Brilliantly written, masterfully crafted and what a great idea, I would dearly like a dose of what Stuart Turton had the day he thought of this one - just unique. Of course it gets a well deserved 5 stars from me, I only hope it gets picked up for making into a film, if it does I will be there on opening night!